to the hymn 120 for opening praise. Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son, endless is the victory. Thou o'er death has won. You'll find the hymn on the page 224. The hymn is 120. Let's stand and sing this to the glory of God on this Resurrection Sunday. Thine be the glory. ♪ Thine be the glory ♪ ♪ Risen from grave's sun ♪ ♪ And blest is the victory ♪ ♪ Thou o'er death hast won ♪ ♪ Angels in bright raiment ♪ ♪ Roll the stone away ♪ with brave clothes where thy body lay. Thine be the glory, risen conqu'ring sun. Endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won. Oh, Jesus brings us, risen from the dead. Lovingly he brings us, scatters fear and blood. Then the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing. Death hath lost his stay. Thine be the glory, risen, hungry child. Endless is the victory the Lord yet hath won. Please make your face show that you're glad that Christ has risen from the dead. You're depressing me as I look at you this morning. So please, we're thinking about Christ rising from the dead, the triumph of God, and all that he has done for us. Be glad in the Lord, Christian, and encourage your heart as you sing God's praise this morning, please. No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of Life. Verse number three. No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of Life. Life is not without thee. ♪ In our strife ♪ ♪ Make us more than conquerors ♪ ♪ Through thy deathless love ♪ ♪ Bring us safe through Jordan ♪ ♪ To thy home above ♪ ♪ Find me the glory ♪ Let's seek the Lord together in a word of prayer. Let's call on his name. Our loving Father, our gracious God, again we come into Thy presence through the name and the merit of Christ our Savior. We rejoice this day, this weekly day, this first day of the week, as a reminder to us every day, O God, and every week of Christ, who is the living head. We thank Thee for one who has triumphed over death. O God, we thank Thee, yes, for dark Gethsemane, We thank thee for Gilbatha, we thank thee for Gilgatha, and all that Christ has accomplished by his life and death. But we thank thee that he is risen from the dead, no longer under the power of death. Death could not keep its prey. Jesus, my Savior, he tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord, up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph over his foes. We thank thee that it was for this purpose that he was manifest. that he might destroy the works of the devil. Thank you for the great crushing of the enemy's head there at Calvary's cross. Thank you, O God, for the triumph of Christ there on Golgotha's middle tree. Thank you, dear God, that he came forth from the conflict as the victor and as the one who had conquered death and sin and hell and the devil. And Lord, we bless Thee that this day He continues to go forth conquering and to conquer. Never a defeat, O God. Never, dear God, a skirmish that He loses. But every battle that He engages in, He comes forth with crowns of victory upon his head. Oh, heal the power of Jesus' name. Let angels' prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. Think of that great psalm that we read off there. There in the initial part of the book of Psalms, who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lord we rejoice dear father that all of our enemies are being brought under his feet and shall be subdued and Christ shall reign forever and forever. Thank you, O God, that the tomb is a public verification and a public declaration that Christ has offered a suitable sacrifice to put away sins forever. Thank you for the ending of the old ceremonial law. Thank you, dear God, that Christ was the last lamb ever to be slain. Thank you for that moment when he offered himself unto God, where he laid down his life Think of that, just after the sixth hour of the day, when that lamb was being sacrificed in the temple, when the blood was being shed, Christ offered himself. He gave his soul over to the Father. He said, into thy hand I commend my spirit. And we thank thee that he died. for sin, and He rose again for our justification. And therefore, dear God, we rejoice this day that Christ is alive. He's in the glory. He's ever living to make intercession for us. He's praying for us and pleading all the merit and value and virtue of the blood on our behalf. We stand into the victory of Calvary today. Stand into the victory of the empty tomb. Lord, we bless Thee that we're more than conquerors. Through him that loved us, we thank thee for the one who washed us in his own blood and gave himself for us as a ransom for many. Lord, with, O Father, in light of Calvary, in light of the crucified one and all that he did, O God, we pray that we might be crucified to the world. O Lord, let us live the crucified life. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. O Lord, we pray that more of Christ would be seen in this life of mine. And Lord, I cry to Thee in my home and in this community and in this pulpit and among this dear folk. O God, that Christ would be seen more and more in my life and less of self. O answer prayer. Bless, O God, missionaries today across the world. We pray especially for Stephen and Ruth, as they've returned to the mission station there in Emmanuel Christian School and also at the church today. May thy hand be upon them, and may they know much of the power of the resurrected Christ, even as the Word of God is preached. Bless those who are not with us today because of age or sickness. Because of others, O God, who have went on a little break, we pray that thy hand will be upon such, and may they be found in some place of public worship today, praising and glorifying thee. So answer prayer, continue to be with us as we sing thy praise, for we offer our petitions in and through Christ's precious and holy name. Amen. To hymn 125, look ye saints, the sight is glorious. See the man of sorrows now, even from the fight returned victorious. Every knee to him shall bow. Crown him, crown him, crowns become the victor's bride. 125, we'll stand to sing God's praise, found on page 226. That's a lot. Every knee to Him shall lie. Pride in, pride in, pride in, pride in, Prides become the victor's pride. Prides become the victor's pride. Your angels cry with praises, for His peace has reigned in the sea. While the Lord love ever reigns. Prime and priming, Prime and priming, Prime the Savior, King of kings. ♪ Pride the Savior, King of kings ♪ ♪ Sinners in derision frightened ♪ ♪ The King loves the Savior's flame ♪ ♪ Saints and angels, pride arighting ♪ O His title, praise His name! Cry Him, cry Him, cry Him, cry Him, Spread abroad the victor's fame! Spread abroad the victor's fame! Those birds of acclamation, Hark! those high, triumphant chords! Jesus, King of the highest nation, O what joy this night affords! Pride him, pride him, pride him, pride him, King of kings and Lord of lords! King of kings and Lord of lords! At this time, we welcome you to the House of God on this Resurrection Sunday, and how glad we are that we serve one who is risen indeed. The early Christians would greet each other with the words, the Lord is risen, and the response would be, the Lord is risen indeed, and thank God he is alive and well in the glory. And it is a reminder this first day of the week that Christ is the living God, one who has divested the grave of its power and defeated sin and Satan and hell in the process. So we welcome one and all on this Resurrection Sunday to the house of God. We remind you of the announcements for the rest of today and then the rest of the week. The Lord's Day, 6.30 tonight, we meet for prayer, 7 o'clock, the gospel service. We encourage all to be along at the service this evening. I'll be here to preach a relevant message in the gospel tonight, so we encourage you to be found in the house of God. Then the Easter convention meetings continue. on Monday at the Martyrs Memorial Church at 3.30, the Reverend Gordon Dehan, our moderator, will preach God's Word. Seven o'clock, the Reverend Joan Armstrong, the deputy moderator, will preach God's Word. Now, there is an Apprentice Boys' Parade in the Ravenhill area, and so if you're going down for the 3.30, a time you need to either be there early, I think it starts at half two to three o'clock, that's the time period, so if you want to leave it till after that time to make your way, but that will maybe inconvenience individuals going to the convention. But we trust that you'll be found in the house of God even tomorrow at some stage. Wednesday night, 8 p.m. is our Bible study and prayer meeting, and the preacher at that meeting will be our brother, Mr. Andrew Murray, who is a Whitefield College student. So come along, encourage him by your presence here on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Friday night, eight o'clock, is our Youth Fellowship meeting. Our brother, Mr. Matthew Higgins, will be here to preach the word of God. Saturday night, or Saturday, there is a denominational time of prayer, has been called by our officers of Presbytery to pray for our nation, to pray for revival, and to pray for the stirring of God again among the saints of God. That's in Lisbon, Free Presbyterian Church, It's from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and so I trust that if you can go there to pray, then make your way to Lisbon on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then, next Lord's Day, 10.30, Sunday School and Bible Class, 12 noon, the Family Worship Service, 3.30, the bi-weekly open air. Brother Mr. David Laverty will preach there. 7 o'clock, the Gospel Service, and then Matthew Higgins will be again. along. He is a fourth-year student at the Whitefield College of the Bible. He'll be preaching at both services next Lord's Day in the will of God. The Millers have arrived safely back to the station there in Uganda, and they're very thankful for your prayers for them. We had the Whitefield College of the Bible last Lord's Day, and we had an offering, and that offering totaled £2,000, and that is tremendous giving We sincerely thank you for your sacrificial giving, and I know that that was appreciated by even the college principal. We were able to give that to him on Friday night at the martyrs, and we were able to secure their help and their ministry for next year in the will of God, so that's a blessing. They'll be along with us next April, and that will be a blessing to us all. But thank you sincerely in the Savior's precious name. Can I thank all the ladies who provided supper for our Easter rally and those who served out the food. We want to thank you in the Savior's precious name for those who helped make the tea in the kitchen and then those who cleaned up after the meeting. And we thank all who came to the House of God. It was a good number out on Wednesday evening. And if you weren't here, it's a message worth the listening to. And you can find that on Sermon Audio, or ask some of the men there in the media team, and they'll be able to get you a copy. It was a real blessing to be in God's house on Wednesday night. And then Sunday evening, just to give you advance notice, Sunday evening, the 5th of May, the Reverend Lorry Power will be here to testify of God's saving grace. Lorry Power is a converted sinner, and he's also a converted Roman Catholic. And our brother's coming to bring God's word. He was brought up in County Laos, down in the south of Ireland. and he's coming to testify. That's on Sunday evening, the 5th of May. Make that meeting known to others as well, please. Let the Bible speak. You know that they're doing television recordings. Well, it's our turn as a congregation. to do that and that is planned for Monday the 27th of May and we need you to come that night to make up the congregation. They need about 80 to 90 people to make up the congregation for that night. Now there will be a bus in the will of God leaving the church at 6.30 sharp. We need to be there for about a quarter to eight, if not a little sooner. And if you can help us with respect to that, then put your name on the list in the hallway over the next two weeks. We need to know numbers in the next two weeks. I want to say that it is a bank holiday. I want to make that known to you. It is a bank holiday. with respect to that date. So do not put your name on the list if you're going to pull out because it depends then about who else is drawn in to make up the congregation. So if all possible, I'll be there. Two meetings or two programs will be recorded on that night. The first at 8 o'clock, and then the next at 9. We should be finished about 10 o'clock, and we'll be back here, God willing, just after 11 o'clock. But I trust that you'll help us out with this endeavor in the gospel, and please put your name on the list for Monday night, the 27th of May. I will be off for a week from Tuesday, and if you therefore need any pastoral care from Tuesday on, in my absence then, the elders will see to that, and so contact one of the four elders in the congregation, and they'll facilitate speaking and meeting with you if you need pastoral care in your family or in your home over the next week from Tuesday on. And then finally, as a congregation, we want to extend our sympathies to the Gordon family and the death of Mr. William Gordon in the week that has passed. The funeral service was here on Friday, very large service, and the Lord helped. Let me thank you for your prayers. and the Lord helped and touched the throat. Those that were here on Wednesday night know what that was like and so we thank you for your prayers and laying hold of God for me. I trust that you'll pray for William and Ian and Eileen in the passing off a father and their spouses and their families just at this particular time of loss. May the Lord draw particularly near and speak to them even in the gospel. Those are all by way of announcements. Let's turn to the hymn 354. I come to the garden alone. While the dew is still in the roses and the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. I always think of this hymn to be a hymn that is so suited to Mary Magdalene as she came to the garden tomb and how she came alone to that tomb. We'll be thinking about her today and others with respect to the coming to the garden tomb. We're just going to sing this hymn as the offering is brought in for God's work. Three, five, four, I come to the garden alone. ♪ Come to the garden of old ♪ ♪ While the June is still on the roses ♪ ♪ And the voice I hear falling on my ear ♪ ♪ The song of God discloses ♪ And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we share has been far relayed, unaware as ever before. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave That He gave to me, within my heart it's ringing. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we die there, a mother has ever known. Let's go to the last verse. I'll stay in the garden with him, who the love in her eye beheld holy. But it is below, through the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own. We meet around the table of the Lord to remember his death. And I trust that every Christian will stay today If you know and love the Savior, you'll stay to remember your Savior's death, and that you'll simply obey the command, this do, in remembrance of me. I trust that you'll take that time to remember our Savior's death. Can I also just thank our caretakers? It has been a busy week for them, and we're very thankful for all that they've done in helping us in the congregation. We're turning to Matthew chapter 28. the 28th chapter of the book of Matthew, and we're reading from the opening verse off the chapter. Today's message is, I suppose, more devotional than it would be applicatory, but I trust that the Lord will help us and the Lord will apply his word to our heart as we consider the events surrounding our Lord's resurrection. Matthew chapter 28 and the verse number one, And in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake. The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him, though I have told you. they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word as they went to tell his disciples behold Jesus met them saying all heel and they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him then said Jesus on to them be not afraid go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." We'll end our reading there at the end of the verse number 10. Let's unite in prayer. Our Father and God in heaven, we come now to thy precious word, ever thankful for the written word that points us to the living word, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Come, Lord, and meet with us around the pages of Scripture. Lord, challenge our hearts. Lord, we pray that we might find profit here as we meet, O God, in this fashion, as we open the book and as we learn of all that happened on that resurrection morning. O God, come and thrill our souls. and come and inspire us to live for Christ as we have never lived for him since this moment of time. Answer prayerfully with thy spirit, I pray, for I ask this in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen and amen. Despite his many repeated claims that he would do so, there wasn't really much expectation among the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ that he would rise again the third day from the dead, Because surely if there had been an expectation of such an event, those disciples would have encamped near that garden tomb where the Savior's lifeless body had been laid. Somewhere within, I shot off the sealed tomb. to await his arising again from the dead and his coming forth from the grave. And yet as you read through the gospel narratives, you find those disciples, disciples that had made such great claims of loyalty and love for Christ, you find them scattered here, there, and yonder in a dejected state of mind and heart and full of unbelief. understanding that the preparation of the body of Christ for burial was hastily performed because of the approaching Sabbath day. We do find a group of devoted women returning to the sepulchre on the first day of the week to properly embalm the body of Christ before they picked up their lives from where they had left them off before they became followers. of the Lord Jesus Christ. This afternoon I want us to look at these group of women. I want us to look at all that happened on this eventful Lord's Day as they attend to their Lord and Master. Now for that we need to glean from all four gospel records not just here in Matthew's account, but Mark and Luke and John. If we are to understand all that happens, and we want to try and do that today, bringing all information together from all four Gospels and hopefully presenting to you the truth of all that occurs on resurrection morning in 1 coherent message. And so we want to take our message title today, The Woman and the Tomb. The Woman and the Tomb. I want us to think about firstly their coming to the tomb. One is to think about them coming to the tomb. Now we need to establish, first of all, who it was that came to the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ on this resurrection morning. Because the gospel records, they focus on different individuals as they come to the garden tomb, as they come to the place where the Lord had been lame. Matthew, the gospel writer, Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, they come to see the sepulcher. It is Mark in his gospel who informs us who this other Mary is because in Mark's account we are told that It is Mary, the mother of James. And so it is Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James that Matthew is speaking about here in Matthew chapter number 28. And we're told that they came early in the morning. Along with Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, we're also told that another lady, a woman by the name of Salome, also joins this band of women. as they come early in the morning to the sepulcher. Luke adds another lady. Her name is Joanna. And so we have four named women making their way to the tomb. But also Luke records that among those women and with those women, there come also other women that were there with them. Now these women are unnamed. they are unknown to us who they are and yet we find a focus here on four named woman and then others. John focuses entirely on Mary Magdalene. Now in reading first then the four gospel records you would think that there is some kind of disharmony between the records of who went to the tomb and when they went to the tomb as we read them together. But I submit to you that there is no disharmony with the gospel records. It may well have been that this grouping of ladies that they determined on the Friday to return to the sepulcher on the first day of the week. They possibly made arrangements with each another. We find that they make their way to the tomb. They know which tomb Christ is laid in. The woman follow Christ from his body as Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Christ down along with Nicodemus. They understand that it's into the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea that the Savior is laid. They seem to make arrangements with one another that they're going to meet here again in just over 24 hours to finish off the work that they had started to do. And so we find them, I believe, coming to the tomb at different periods of time. You must understand that these ladies did not all live together. Some of them may have lived in the city of Jerusalem themselves and thereby much closer to the garden tomb. Others may have lived out in the surrounding villages, maybe in Bethlehem or some other outlying little town. It would have taken them just a little further as they set out on the first day of the week. It seems to be that Mary Magdalene reaches the resting place of the Savior first. She finds that Christ is risen from the dead. She tells Peter and Joan and then returns. By the time she returns, it seems to be that Mary, the mother of James, along with Siloam and Joanna and the others, eventually reach the place of the Savior's burial. But he's no longer there, for he is risen from the dead. All of these women, devoted to their master. They make their way to this garden tomb, not expecting him to be alive, but expecting him still to be lying there dead, his lifeless body to be embalmed for the final time. As I thought of the record in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, and I thought about these ladies that are given precedent by the Holy Spirit in the gospel records, I came to ask myself the question, Where are the men? Where are the men? We do not read of John or Peter. We do not read of Thomas or Matthew or Philip making their way to the tomb. But rather we find it's the woman, it's the ladies who make their way to the sepulchre on resurrection morning. But where are the men? Sad to say that question has been asked. By many, a mission board member, when they look at the mission stations across the world that are being manned, not by men, but by women, mission board members are asking the question, where are the men? Were the men to be missionaries? Why is it that Miss Russell, why is it that she's serving and holding the fort, as it were, there in the mission station? Why, where are the men? Many a Sunday school superintendent has found himself asking the question as he's tried to replace and replenish the teaching staff, where are the men? We'll get ladies to teach Sunday school, but where are the men? We find many a children's meeting leader as they seek for someone to bring the Bible lesson, where are the men? or you'll get the ladies to bring the Bible lesson to the boys and girls, but where's the men of the congregation? Where are the men? We find a moderator. And a college principal, as they survey the denomination, even on this resurrection morning, there are many congregations, over 10, that have no undershepherd preaching the gospel today. No full-time minister preaching the word. And the moderator and the college principal, they ask the question, where are the men? I wonder men today. Where are you? Any service for your master? Any love for Christ? Any devotion to the one who bled and suffered and died for your sin? Any desire to make his name known? Are we going to be as these women and as the early church was on this resurrection morning? Are we going to leave it to the woman? to expand our love and their devotion to Christ and we sit back at ease and do nothing for Him. Where were the men? Thank God for these men. May God help us to be men. May men again become Men. These are women coming to the tomb. Women that are leading the way. Women unashamed to identify with the Lord. Women who are open and public about their love and devotion for their master, but not a man to be seen. Not a man to be seen. Oh, that in the words of 2 Samuel 10 verse 12, we would start to play the men for our people. Where are the men? Not only who came to the tomb, but when they came to the tomb. Think about the day that they came. These women came to Christ, notice there, the verse 28, or the verse one of chapter 28, in the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. Now Luke makes a very interesting comment And observation, if you want to turn to Luke's gospel, chapter 23, you'll find an interesting comment there at the end of the verses 55 and 56. Luke chapter 23, verse 55 and 56. And the woman also which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested. the Sabbath day according to the commandment. They rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment, determined not to break the fourth commandment. to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, these women submitted themselves to that established command of God concerning the Sabbath day. Now you think of that. Even though it meant they had to forego the embalming work that they had purposed to do on the body of Jesus Christ, they set that work aside to remember the Sabbath day. If ever there was a work of necessity or mercy, it would have been that. But they set it aside. Here are women who were Sabbatarians. They believed in the keeping of one day in seven, a day of rest. What a noble work! They could have said it was worth breaking the Sabbath day for. They were going to anoint the body of Christ. They were going to put spices into his body to embalm him properly. Surely if ever there was a work that they could have said, this is worthy of me breaking the very commandment of God, it would have been this work. But no, even that work. They laid aside to keep the Sabbath day. And so they return. They return before the Sabbath commences. They keep the Lord's day, or the Sabbath day, and they return to the tomb on the first day of the week. Folks, we can learn much about and from these ladies when it comes to simply obeying the command to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The works that were non-essential were left to one side. They do not prepare the spices or the ointments on the Sabbath day. They don't do that. It says very clearly that they rest on the Sabbath day. These works were non-essential. They leave it aside, the Sabbath rest is enjoyed and also observed. Now while it is true that the day has changed from Saturday to the first day off the week, the commandment to remember Christ, the commandment to set aside one day and seven for worship and rest is still in force today. Christ did not come to destroy the law, but he came to fulfill the law. And here we have individuals, And they could have very easily said, this is a work of mercy and necessity. But above those very works, they said, I must obey the Lord. How well do you and I fare in the keeping of the Lord's day? Here were ladies, a noble work indeed. And yet they leave it aside to keep the Sabbath day. The second thing we note is the time of the day that they come. Mark and Luke tells us that they come very early in the morning. The gospel writer Matthew is a little more specific in his timings because he says, as it began to dawn, toward the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to the sepulcher. However, there is one woman who I believe reaches the tomb before the first rays of dawn ever break the sky, and that is Mary Magdalene. And I know that because John, in his gospel, records that Mary Magdalene came early when it was yet dark. onto the sepulcher. So the timings are as such. Mary Magdalene, before dawn ever breaks, is at the tomb. And then as day begins to break, the other ladies start to come from this direction and that direction. They've all come to the place of meeting, that prearranged place, to come to worship Christ. They leave their place to come and worship Christ. How it reminds us that we come from various parts and parts of the countryside, and yet we come to one place to worship not a dead Savior, but a risen Savior. To expand on Him our worship, our praise. All our love and devotion we pour out to him in a place of public worship. Just like these ladies, they're going to expend their time and their devotion and their love upon, as they think, a dead Savior, but they come to a place of public, as it were, worship. And how we ought to be like that. You think of that lady, Mary Magdalene, getting up, I don't know, three, two o'clock in the morning. You think if we're going out into those alleyways of Jerusalem, no street lighting. You think of the watchmen that would have been on the bulwarks of that great city. You think of all the wickedness that is done in the darkness of the night, and yet here's a lady going out into the alleyways and into the streets of the city. What a daring feat it is indeed. The courage that's fueled by intense love for Christ has been aroused within her heart as well as the hearts of these ladies. It arouses them from their ease and from their comfort and from their beds. They're not worried about their sleep. They just want to get to Christ. They want to get to His tomb. They're not concerned about if they're feeling tired or weary or maybe they've got a little cold and I can't really come to the house of God. I can't go to the place of public worship. None of these things withhold these women because something has taken possession of them. A love for Christ. A devotion for the Master. My ease is left behind. I must courageously go out into the night and meet and go to the place of meeting. Again, we could learn from these ladies, could we not? Many a person is slothful when it comes to the place of public worship. how we could learn from them to cast away our sloth and cast away our ease, to put away our fears, to have done with our comfort and to be clad with fresh courage and filled with first love to identify ourselves with and serve not a dead Savior, but a living, exalted and glorified Savior. They came in the morning. At the first opportunity, they came to the tomb. Is that your desire as you rise every Lord's day? Can't wait to get to the house of God. Can't wait to get to the place of public worship. Or is it the case that very little keeps you from the house of prayer and praise? Why do they come? That's the third thing, why they came. Well, Mark, Luke, and John tells us that they come to anoint the body of Christ. Matthew informs us that they come to see the sepulcher. As I've already said, the preparation of the body of Christ for burial was hastily performed on the Friday evening because of the approaching Sabbath. And so this group of women, they returned to the sepulcher. Look at them. They're laid in dying with freshly prepared and bought spices and ointments. They carry them, perfumed with them. There's a fragrance about these ladies. There's a beauty about these ladies as they come to worship, as they come to the place of burial. They carry that fragrance with them everywhere they go. They come to properly embalm the body of Christ. It is, as it were, the last act of devotion in their minds to their Master and their Savior. Here's a band of women who want to express their love for Christ in a very tangible way. It's going to cost them. It's going to cost them time and energy in the preparing of the spices and the ointments. It's going to cost them with respect to their time. and also to their finances. But what does that mean? And what does that matter? Because it's for the Lord. It's for my master. What matters if I'm out of pocket? What matters if I'm out of time and I have to expend a little time? It's for the master. It's for the Christ. All worship of God is costly. It involves the worshiper giving their time and energy and finances and their undivided devotion to worship God in a manner that is pleasing to Him. When we come to worship God, He expects our best. They gave their best to Him, and they were giving it to a dead Savior. And here we are in God's house, And we ask the question, have I given my best to him today in worship to a living Christ? In worship are we at our best? Do we give him our best? Do we give him our best singing? Do we give him our best gifts? Our best attention as the Word of God is preached, or is your mind wandering, concerning yourself about the person who sits beside you, or who's here, who is not here? Do we come to God in worship with a mind that is non-alert? Have we come to God's house with a tired body? because we haven't managed our time as we ought to have managed our time. Have we come to God's house with an unprepared and with an unpraying heart? Have we come to the house of God with a bitter, with a critical spirit? Have we come with a stingy, a reluctant hand, unwilling to give God what is already His? Have we come to the house of God with an unyielding, an unsubmissive, an obstinate will today? Oh, that in some way my worship would be like these ladies, that it would have something of the spirit of these ladies. They're coming to the tomb. But in the second place, I want you to see their concern about the tomb. As this main grouping of ladies make their way to the prearranged rendezvous point at the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ, one matter, simply one matter, concerns and preoccupies our mind. Mark informs us what that concern is. It is the stone that is across the door of the tomb. So concerned are they about it that they then vocally express that concern one to another. Because Mark chapter 16 verse 3 tells us, as they speak to one another, they ask the question, who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? Now, Matthew and Mark tells us that it was Joseph of Arimathea who rolls the stone across the tomb. It's therefore a job at least for a man. This is certainly nothing, this is nothing or something that a woman could do. A man rolled the stone up across the tomb. We are told in the intervening time between the Friday and the Lord's Day that the priests and the Pharisees, they make their way to Pilate. They remember They remember that he was to rise again the third day. And so they request that Pilate will do something to secure the body of Jesus Christ, lest the disciples come to steal away his body and then tell those in Jerusalem and beyond that Christ has risen from the dead. And so permission is given to these zealous, hypocritical, religious leaders to make the Savior's resting place as sure and as safe as they can. Matthew tells us what they do. It says, Matthew 27, verse 66, so they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. I draw your attention to the sealing of the stone. John Alcott, Charles John Alcott suggests the ceiling was probably affected by drawing one or more ropes across the stone and fastening it, fastening either end to the rock with either cement or wax of some kind. Others suggest that the ceiling is simply the impression of either the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Great Seal of the Jewish Sanhedrin or even Pilate's seal. like a signet seal placed upon the stone, reminding those who would attempt to open the grave the consequences that would flow from either the Jewish religious authorities or the Roman authorities if that seal was tampered with in any way. As well as the seal, there is a sentinel guard, soldiers, Roman soldiers placed at the tomb to ward off any attempts to steal away the body of Jesus Christ. Three hurdles have to be overcome. The stone, the seal, and the soldiers. Now these ladies, they only know about the stone. I don't believe that they know anything about the ceiling of the stone, neither do I believe they know anything about the soldiers that stand there. The first is known to them, the door with the stone across, the ceiling, the keepers, the soldiers were unknown to these women. However, their concerns were dealt with before they even reached the tomb. We are told by Matthew in Matthew 28 in the verse number two, And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. Beck's unexpected appearance of the angel of the Lord with his countenance shining like lightning and his raiment as white as snow, dealt not only with the stone and with the seal, but also with the soldiers, because we are told in verse four that the soldiers, for fear of him, we are told that the keepers did shake and they became as dead men. Every hurdle dealt with by God before they even reached the place of destination. By the time they reached the tomb, This question that had been going round in their minds probably since they first set out from their homes, who's going to roll away the stone? We find that Mark tells us, and when they looked, they saw the stone was rolled away. That which caused them the greatest concern had already been dealt with by God before they ever had to face it. And is that not a blessed truth to go home with today? That those things that concern you the most, thank God God is able to deal with them before you even ever come up against them. I've proven that in my own Christian life, things that I dreaded, things that I fretted about, things that I lost sleep over, were dealt with by God, as God worked on my behalf. And I know that there are many in this congregation, and you have experienced that, concerns and worries and fears. You've got yourself up, as it were, to hide only to find when you reach the place where you thought was going to be of the greatest concern, God had dealt with it. Whether he's dealt with the issue, whether he's dealt with the person, God has dealt with it because God works for his people. God works on behalf of his people. Here are a group of ladies in the very center of God's will. And whenever you're in the center of God's will, God deals with the problems. God deals with the issue. And if the issue isn't dealt with, he gives you grace to go through the issue and to carry the cross. But whenever you're in the will of God, we have nothing to fear. He goes before to prepare the way. to roll away the stone. J.C. Ryle, as he thought about the stone that was rolled away, he said, a large proportion of a saint's anxieties arise from things which never really happen. We look ahead to all possibilities of the journey towards heaven. We conjure up in our imagination all kinds of crosses and obstacles. We mentally carry tomorrow's troubles as well as today's, and often, very often, we find at the end that our doubts and our alarms were groundless, and that the thing that we dreaded most has never come to pass at all. Is it not then the most rational thing for us to do in light of this detail? To trust our God more. to actually do and to hand over our concerns to him, leaving it for him to roll away the stone. I'm sure these women were perplexed and at the sight of the rolled away stone and off the open tomb. Various scenarios were most likely played out and imagined in their mind how this stone had come to be rolled away, but they were not left in the dark for very long because the angel speaks to them. It brings us to consider the woman's conversation at the tomb. The angel wishing to allay their fears speaks directly to them in the verse number five, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. One of the other gospel writers says, why seek ye the living among the dead? The literal translation of it is, why seek ye the one living? among the dead ones. There is a singularity and then there is a plurality. Why seek you the one living among the many dead ones? He is not here, he is risen from the dead. Behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall you see him, though I have told you. All I want you to notice about this conversation that these ladies have with this angel is that the conversation is all centered on Jesus Christ. Note how many times the angel refers to the Son of God in his communication with the angels. Ye seek Jesus. He is not here. He is risen, as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead. And behold, He goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see Him. He makes no reference to Himself, why He's there, why He's been sent, who it is that has sent Him. He makes no mention of that, but He simply focuses His remarks entirely and completely upon the resurrected Christ. And what a challenge that is to my heart. What a challenge it ought to be to your heart. I ask myself the question, is my conversation in my home, among the community, in this church, is it focused on Christ? Or is our thoughts and our conversation about ourselves? Is it the case that you would go days Days without speaking to others of Christ in your place of education or employment, in the home, in the community in which you live. We speak of many other things, but do we speak of Christ? Here's an angel. He wants to speak only of Him, only of Christ. That's my only message. A dead, resurrected Christ, a crucified Christ, but a raised Christ from the dead. That's my message. That's what the angel was declaring to these ladies. Oh, that that would be our message. We preach Christ crucified, yes, but we preach Christ risen. He died for your sins, sinner. He died for your sins. And for God to publicly verify that that work was satisfactory, he raises his son from the dead. One final thought, when you think about their conveyance from the tomb, their conveyance from the tomb, their going away from the tomb, they don't camp here. They don't make this a shrine. They're not Romanists. They don't make this place a place of pilgrimage. Is it not interesting? As you read through the Gospels and then into the book of Acts, do you ever read of them going back to the tomb? I never read of the disciples ever going back to this tomb again. They don't make the grave some sort of shrine or place of pilgrimage. No, they go forth. They hurry from the tomb, some with fear, some with great joy. A real mishmash of emotions. One moment they're full of joy, the next they're full of fear and dread. They're going to tell the disciples. Christ did not tell those ladies to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Because that wasn't the lady's work to do. That was going to be left for men to do. Christ was going to commission his faithless disciples, these men who were nowhere to be seen. God's going to give them an opportunity to make amends, as it were. He's going to commission them to go into all the world and preach the gospel. All that these ladies are asked to do is to take the message to the disciples. They will take it then into the world and beyond until the world knows that Christ is risen from the dead. And as they go, they meet the Prince of Life. All heal. All heal, he says to them. Be not afraid, but go and tell my brethren, their unwavering love for Christ was rewarded with a meeting with Christ. How thankful we are that the living Christ meets us, those who love him, not in a physical way, but he comes to meet us. He comes to meet us in prayer. He comes to meet us when the word is opened. He comes to meet us at the public place of prayer. He comes to meet us at the table. He makes his presence known. One of the glorious things about biblical Christianity is that it does not ask you to stand beside some occupied throne or some occupied grave or tomb. but it exhorts you to gaze into the glory and there fix your eyes upon an occupied throne because there at the right hand of God, this very moment, there sits in all of his exalted glory, the very Christ of God. And while the world's religions will offer you a dead leader, biblical Christianity offers you a relationship with the living Savior. Do you know him? Can you say in the words of Charles Wesley's hymn, no condemnation now I dread? Jesus and all in him is mine, alive in him my living head, and clothed in righteousness divine, bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. The company of ladies, they leave the garden tomb, fully convinced that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. Although their intended service was not required that day, what I mean by that, the embalming off his dead body with the spices, just because that service wasn't needed. They didn't sit back in idleness. Instead, their service was changed in another way. As they go and tell the message to the disciples, that service continues. We find them in the upper room in the book of Acts. There as they pray and supplicate awaiting the promise of the Father, from the tomb to the upper room, from sorrowing to supplicating. These women, we have much to learn from them. We serve a risen Savior. one who has destroyed death on our behalf. He lives to pray for his people, to succor us, to comfort us. He will one day raise us from the sleep of death, and he'll take us to heaven, to heaven itself. Maybe today finds you in unbelief, and you know not the risen Christ, but that you would come to know him today, And then in knowing him and asked, how do you know he lives? That you'll be able to say, I know he lives because he lives within my heart. He's taken up his residency in my heart. They came, they saw, they went. Sinner, come and see. Understand that Christ is a living Savior. Go from this place redeemed by precious blood, join to Christ in a bond of eternal union, and then go forth into the world to declare Christ is risen indeed. May God thrill our hearts, and may God speed our feet to take the message into the world that Christ is alive. and ready to save. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Let's pray.